Recent Blog Articles

New Harvard tool helps fact-check cancer claims

Hand pain from arthritis? This may help

Polio: What parents need to know now

Ketamine for treatment-resistant depression: When and where is it safe?

Have lupus? What to know about birth control

Screening at home for memory loss: Should you try it?

Travel tummy troubles: Here’s how to prevent or soothe them

Easy, delicious summer veggie meals will help stretch your food budget

Tracking viruses: The best clues may be in the sewer

Promising therapy if PSA rises after prostate cancer surgery
Nutrition
Keep ultra-processed foods off the menu
- By Heidi Godman, Executive Editor, Harvard Health Letter
News briefs
Ultra-processed foods are ultra-convenient. You can get just about anything prepackaged, from ready-made meals to baked goods and snacks. But these foods are usually loaded with lots of added sugars, fat, salt, chemical additives, and preservatives. And a study published online July 14, 2021, by The BMJ suggests that eating ultra-processed foods — like donuts, salty snacks, soft drinks, and processed meat — is associated with higher risks of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD, such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis). Researchers reviewed the self-reported dietary habits of more than 116,000 middle- and older-age adults around the world who were followed for about 10 years. Compared with people who ate less than one serving of ultra-processed foods per day, people who ate one to four servings per day had a 67% increased risk of getting IBD. Those who ate five or more servings of ultra-processed foods per day had an 82% increased risk for IBD. Researchers say there may be something about the way foods are processed that contributes to IBD. The study is only observational and doesn’t prove that eating ultra-processed foods causes IBD. But it’s likely: scientists already suspect that eating processed foods may generate an unhealthy mix of microbes in the gut, leading to inflammation.
Image: eamanver/Getty ImagesDisclaimer:
As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.
No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
You might also be interested in…

The Diet Review: 39 popular nutrition and weight-loss plans and the science (or lack of science) behind them
You have tremendous latitude in what goes into your daily diet—and the choices you make can have profound consequences for your health. But what diet should you choose? The range is truly dizzying. Just some of the diets you might encounter are vegan, pegan, and portfolio. Raw food, whole foods, and Whole 30. Keto, carnivore, and paleo. Clean eating and intermittent fasting. DASH, MIND, and Volumetrics. Mediterranean, Nordic, and Okinawan. What does it all mean? And how can you begin to make sense of it? This Special Health Report is here to help.
Free Healthbeat Signup
Get the latest in health news delivered to your inbox!